The present invention relates to a safety sleeve for rotating shafts and, in particular, to a safety sleeve for exposed cylindrical rotating shafts of industrial machinery or equipment.
In an industrial environment, frequently the shafts of gear drives or other equipment protrude into areas subject to personnel traffic. These shafts may rotate freely and it is apparent that such shafts could cause serious injury to personnel who inadvertently come into contact with such an exposed shaft. In addition to directly inflicting physical injury, the rotating shaft may become entwined in the clothing of nearby personnel thereby pulling the individual into the industrial equipment where even more serious injury may be suffered. It is therefore desirable to provide some protective shield to prevent such injuries. It is desirable to provide a protective shield that can be easily secured to and removed from the shaft.
A number of prior art protective guards for rotating shafts are more or less permanently installed to the equipment with which the shaft is associated, or the shaft itself. Such shields cannot be used in applications where the shaft is exposed and freely rotatable intermittently and at other times used as a drive means or power take-off. It is desirable to utilize a safety sleeve that can be readily attached to the shaft while it is not being used as a drive and is thus exposed and freely rotatable. On the other hand, the protective shield should be easily removed so that the shaft can then be used as a drive or power take-off.
It is known in the prior art to provide such a removable protective shield for a shaft of a power take-off or similar rotating apparatus. The prior art device, however, may be used only with shafts having an exterior circumferential groove in which rides a ball bearing which serves to mount the protective shield on the shaft and retain the protective shield against axial translation along the axis of the shaft. In yet another prior art device, a safety cap is provided for rotating shafts having a spline construction. It will be understood that these prior art devices can only be used in applications in which the rotating shafts have the above-described circumferential groove or spline structure.
The present inventin overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art devices in that it is a safety sleeve that may be easily mounted on not only spline structured shafts but also conventional cylindrical shafts. The safety sleeve of the present invention can, therefore, by installed on exposed rotating shafts as desired and removed when the shaft is to be utilized as a drive means or power take-off.